then smiled and stepped away.
Jeri sat up and looked out the window. A clear, orange-tinted sky hinted at the coming dawn. The long boughs of nearby ponderosa pines hung low under the weight of a fresh layer of glistening snow. She quietly admired the beauty of it all before finally pulling back the sheets to get out of bed. As she did, an unseen object lying at the foot of the bed fell loudly to the floor. She hopped out and walked over to the object, its cover staring plainly up at her.
Predictions in the New Business Ecology
Jeri picked up her father’s book and held it curiously. She was certain she’d left it on the coffee table in the living room the night before. She shrugged irritably at her own forgetfulness and laid it on the nightstand, then headed off to shower and dress.
The rising sun painted the early December sky a pale blue, illuminating the white trunks of aspen standing stoically outside her patio window. For the first time in ages Jeri sipped her coffee and quietly watched the beautiful procession of morning. She also tried to ignore the growing tug of nervous excitement in her stomach.
It was her last day at Joe’s Last Stand Saloon.
The thought brought a smile to her face. She knew it was time to move on. In fact, it was well overdue. The full weight of that truth had struck Jeri the instant she’d found her father’s buried case. It was at that moment, as she’d held his notebooks and read his letter that she realized the truth. She’d been holding onto her father’s ghost for the past year, fighting a feeling of guilt for not being enough, not giving enough, not saying enough to the man who had shaped her world.
The irony that her own sense of guilt had been preventing the very thing her father wanted most for her – a life spent pursuing her passions – wasn’t lost on Jeri. She’d simply never stopped to consider it before now.
She glanced down at the coffee table. The plane ticket to India she’d impulsively bought the previous day stared back at her, bringing with it a fresh wave of excitement. In two days she’d be arriving in Mumbai to begin exploring a corner of the world she’d always wanted to see. An image of busy streets and exotic colors suddenly filled her mind. It would be the first time she had traveled since her father’s death.
The ring of her cell phone abruptly ended Jeri’s daydream. She grabbed her phone from the kitchen counter, then looked at the caller ID and smiled.
“So, today’s the day, huh?” Allie asked excitedly.
“Today’s the day,” Jeri replied. “The official end of my bartending career. I assume you’ll be stopping by. After all, it’s your last chance to get free drinks.”
Allie laughed. “Girl, I have enough guys knocking on the door to keep me in free drinks for the next ten years. But yes, I’ll plan on stopping by after work, okay?”
“I’ll have a glass of wine ready for you.”
“Make it two. Are you packed yet?”
Jeri looked over at the open suitcase laying empty on her living room floor. “Almost.”
“Good. Of course, I still don’t understand why, of all the places in the world you could’ve picked to disappear, you chose India.” Allie moaned.
“Can you think of a better place?”
“A better place? Sweetie, anywhere is a better place. How about Italy, or the Bahamas, or a nice little ride on a cruise ship?”
“Those aren’t places, Allie… they’re tourist traps.”
“Well, just remember… tourist traps don’t have rats. Or slums.”
Jeri smiled into the phone. “Exactly. That’s why I’m going to India.”
Allie sighed resignedly. “Well, just make sure you take plenty of antibiotics.
God knows what you might pick up over there.”
“Consider them packed,” Jeri replied. “Anything else?”
“No. Just that I love you, and that I’m completely pissed that my best friend is leaving me for a third-world country.”
“You could come too.”
“No, I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not like you. I’m not fearless.”
“Allie, I’m anything but fearless.”
Allie sighed into the phone. “Look, I know you better than anyone, and all I can say is that whatever your father buried in that box must have worked, because you’re back… back to being the Jeri I knew before he died. And the Jeri I knew then was definitely fearless. So stop arguing with me and take it as a goddamn compliment.”
Jeri laughed out loud. “Okay, I’m fearless. But I hate the idea of leaving my best friend just as much as you do. So stop by tonight and we’ll toast a proper send off, okay?”